Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Lucas Sims seems to be doing well. Pitching quickly helps. Much better than taking a lot of time between pitches.

Saw Jim Johnson blow the 8th inning, then lash back at an applauding fan just before the commercial came on. Can’t blame Snitker for rolling him out there – that’s the only way to get his mojo back. Johnson didn’t pitch the night before, his Sims’ shutout, but this deep in the season it’s hard to trot out the best three relievers every night. But after Johnson’s blowup last night you wonder if he won’t get several days off, perhaps demoting to long relief.

Barney got a haircut Thursday. Then Ceil drove to SC for her family reunion. Will is going up there Saturday for the golf tourney. I’m going to the Braves game Friday night, the Gwinnett game Saturday night, then straight to Macon for Sunday’s reunion at Northside Christian Church.

 

While I don’t know every single person in our building by name, I pretty much know all the faces. There are six computer people who work on the first floor. Four know me well, and I recognize the other two.
 

On my second floor the office is in the shape of a big U. Transactional sales is on one side. There are three new guys I’m getting to know, plus ten I know well (note including the five outside guys). I’m in the base of the U with twelve other people I work with every day. Purchasing is behind me in the other leg of the U – fourteen people. I know most pretty well…maybe one or two might not know my name. There are seven others on my floor, and I know six of them well.

There are three departments upstairs. Human Resources probably knows me better than I know them (five people). Three of the five Marketing people know me. There’s been a lot of turnover in my old Program Group, but twelve of the 13 know me.

Renovations to our office lobby, break room, and downstairs restrooms are 99% complete. Very nice. Need to use the break room for a Super Bowl party. Big screen TV, new metal tables and chairs, big island to put food, three microwaves, two ice machines, a huge fridge/freezer. Drink machines are on order.

Now they’re renovating the restrooms on my floor, meaning I have to walk to the hallway, down the hall, either up or down the stairs, and around the corner to the restroom. Or though the office to the other hall to the other stairwell. I just completed a study to see which of the four routes was closest. They’re all about the same, between 68 and 75 steps.  

 

Tuesday: worked until 6:20. Grilled chicken and Mexican fixings. I made a quesadilla on the panini press.

Wednesday started out as a sit down day for me. While I was getting dressed I started sneezing over and over, which wears me out. The last two nights I was sleeping hard past the time I needed to get up. The rest of Wednesday was better for me. Stood up half the morning and all afternoon. Worked past six. Talked Ceil into having leftovers. She had spaghetti and I made a quesadilla on the panini press. Nothing much on the telly.

Every Day is Zack Hample Day

Got in line this afternoon at the Chop House Gate, looked around, and saw someone who looked familiar. In the line there was a buzz among the younger guys, who confirmed my hunch: the guy in Rockies purple and Braves cap was the notorious ball hawk, Zack Hample.

I told Zack my son was a big fan. Hample is famous for shagging thousands of balls at MLB parks across the country, and documenting his adventures on his website and YouTube videos.

For the hour we stood in line the teenage boys flocked around Hample.

Younger kids asked for his autograph.

Hample was in town with his assistant and videographer. Before the gates opened he filmed an introduction to today's video,

which will ultimately show up on YouTube.

My old buddy LJ will probably show up in the background.

Hample's autographs include his total number of baseballs collected.

It was another beautiful day for baseball,

with a cool breeze in the air.

Brick of the day.

Prize of the night. I traded two Gwinnett bobbleheads for four tickets,

and a kind usher friend gave me two more without me even asking.

I had sold one in advance, plus four more by the time I got home.

At the exact same time I was gathering Freddie Freeman bobbleheads,

Will was in Augusta grabbing a Jon Lester bobblehead.

The Braves and Rockies wore their players weekend jerseys,

which included some interesting-looking socks.

A kind usher let me get close to the starting pitcher to snap the pictures.

The Johnson Ferry choir sang the national anthem.

Not sure if "Baptist Church" was left out on purpose.

Broke out my KD's for their annual trip to the ballpark.

Good shot of the Braves relievers' stroll to the bullpen,

just after they'd passed starting pitcher Julio Teheran (second from right) making his way in from warming up.

...and the Rockies relievers making their trip.

During batting practice it was easy to spot Hample buzzing around the outfield bleachers. During the game he stationed himself down past the dugouts, hoping for a foul ball.

Even then a little kid tagged along behind him.

I could write an essay on Hample. Boys love him.

Some say he robs kids and other fans of baseballs,

though he does give some away.

 

Another highlight of the evening:

catcher Kurt Suzuki slugged a home run during the RaceTrac Inning,

so I get five dollars of merchandise tomorrow.

Greatest TQBR in a Game

Georgia Tech QB Justin Thomas compiled one of the ten greatest single game performances since 2004, last year against Duke. Thomas is one of four QB’s with at least two of the top 40 performances (based on ESPN’s Total QB Rating) during that time period, along with Andrew Luck, Nick Marshall, and Pat White.  

 

Luck is the only QB with three top 40 performances. He and Joel Lanning are the only two quarterbacks to achieve a perfect 100% rating in a game. Louisville’s Lamar Jackson earned a 99.9 rating last year against Boston College.

 

Thomas’ performance in the 2015 Orange Bowl was the highest rated bowl performance by any QB since 2004, the first year the TQBR system was used. In August Thomas tries to make the New Orleans Saints roster as a wide receiver.

 

Tevin Washington’s performance against Virginia in 2012 was the 19th best performance since 2004.

 

100.0 Andrew Luck Stanford vs Cal 11.20.10 W48-14

100.0 Joel Lanning ISU

 

99.9 Lamar Jackson LOU vs BC 11.05.16 W52-7

99.9 Austin Davis USM

99.9 Zach Terrell WMU

99.9 Nick Marshall Auburn

 

99.8 Matt Jones Arkansas

99.8 Jason White Oklahoma

99.8 Taylor Martinez Nebraska

99.8 Justin Thomas GT vs Duke 10.29.16 W38-35

99.8 Wilton Speight Michigan

99.8 Denard Robinson Michigan

 

99.7 Colin Kaepernick Nevada

99.7 Brandon Allen Arkansas

99.7 Jacoby Brissett NC State

99.7 Joshua Dobbs Tennessee

99.7 JaMarcus Russell LSU

99.7 Pat White West Virginia

99.7 Tevin Washington GT vs UVA 9.15.12 W56-20

99.7 Taylor Lamb App St

 

99.6 Tim Tebow Florida

99.6 Andy Dalton TCU

99.6 Tajh Boyd Clemson

99.6 Pat White WV

 

99.5 Matt Leinart USC

99.5 Brian Brohm Louisville

99.5 Aaron Opelt Toledo

99.5 Nick Fitzgerald Miss State

99.5 James Summers ECU

99.5 Nick Marshall Auburn

 

99.4 Trevor Siemian Northwestern

99.4 Andrew Luck Stanford

99.4 Darren Thomas Oregon

99.4 Bryn Renner UNC

99.4 Marcus Mariotta, Oregon

99.4 Anthony Jennings LSU

99.4 Jake Rudock Michigan

99.4 Andrew Luck, Stanford

99.4 Marcus McMaryion Oregon State

99.4 Justin Thomas GT vs Miss State 12.31.14 W49-34 Orange Bowl

 

http://www.espn.com/ncf/qbr/_/seasontype/2/type/alltime-game 

Anna's Favorite Things

Found Anna’s old American Girl activity book. 

Here were her favorite things…

 

ACTOR: (blank)

ACTRESS: Ashley Tisdale CD: HSM2, Hannah Montana, Meet Myley Cyrus

AMUSEMENT PARK RIDE: big swings

ART: coloring

BOOK: Nancy Drew

CANDY: Gum

CEREAL: Cookie Crisp

CLASS: Science, Reading

COLOR: purple

COMIC BOOK: (blank)

COOKIE: chocolate chip

DANCE: work this out

FAIR FOOD: “cotten candy”

FLOWER: Tulip

GAME: Monopoly

GUM: original

HOLIDAY: Christmas

MAGAZINE: High School Musical

MOVIE: Game Plan, Nancy Drew, HSM2

MUSICAL: High School Musical 1 & 2, Hairspray

PANTS: jeans

PIZZA: “pepperonie”

RADIO STATION: 104.7 the Fish

SINGER: Ashley Tisdale

SPORT: dancing

STORE: My Storie House, Borders

STUFFED ANIMAL: Buddy

TOY: iPod

VACATION: San Francisco, Chicago

VIDEO GAME: Mario Party DS

ZOO ANIMAL: Panda

GT Dumps #4, Picks #3

These days there are three major outfitters of college athletics. Nike supplies the lion’s share of schools. They go to great lengths to supply a quality product, and work with each school to create a unique look. Think Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Southern Cal, Michigan, Texas, Oklahoma, FSU, Georgia, Florida. Nike also supplies the NFL and NBA.

Under Armour had a wild reputation early on but has made traditional schools like Auburn and UCLA happy. And Notre Dame. UA is gaining ground. They recently landed the MLB contract.

All Adidas schools tend to look alike. Adidas is clearly losing ground. UCLA, Michigan, Notre Dame and Tennessee recently jumped off the sinking Adidas ship (as did the NBA). Mark Richt went into Miami last and threw out the Adidas uniforms. Now Adidas is showing off new Canes unis: all green and all black. We’ll see how many times Richt lets his team wear them. There aren’t many major schools left with Adidas: Nebraska, Wisconsin, NC State, Arizona State. Yee ha.

After wearing uniforms created by Russell Athletics for decades, Georgia Tech finally made the move to someone else. After being a national power in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, since then Tech has continued to slide into obscurity. Now they’re lumped in with the Wake Forests of the world, usually showing up in some obscure second-rank bowl game if they qualified at all. Tech needed to partner with a company that could highlight Tech’s great tradition while at the same time appealing to elite high school athletes making a college choice.

Did Tech choose the clear number one outfitter, or the up and coming number two? No. Tech went from one supplier that faded into obscurity to the next supplier headed for obscurity. Tech probably took the most money. This was a time to sign with a leader, even if it meant taking less money.

But sometimes when your fan base isn’t selling out stadiums and filling the coffers, sometimes you have to make decisions based on money. Had Tech signed with Under Armour or Nike perhaps the better unis might’ve swayed better athletes, resulting in more wins, resulting in more elite athletes, resulting in even more wins – resulting in bigger crowds and hey, more money in the coffers.

My beef is with the uniforms. If Tech didn’t have cruddy uniforms, perhaps they’d be taken more seriously by recruits, fans, and the media. My beef is with the decision to go with Adidas as the supplier, when other schools are jumping ship. You can tell by the AJC articles that AD Stansbury is toeing the Adidas line, using the Adidas terminology. It’s all hype. Why doesn’t Adidas use Tech’s terminology?

 

Interesting the big announcement was scheduled for 8 am this morning (but leaked last night), and the AJC article detailing reaction to the announcement was posted at 8:03 am. The reaction was favorable because Russell was so bad. Tech was the only large school outfitted by Russell. Run of the mill fans just don’t realize how far behind Adidas is.

 

Wonder how much Gary Niebur was involved. He’s an Adidas rep big into tennis, with deep roots at Georgia Tech. I will admit Adidas has improved their line of shoes lately, especially running shoes. But they’re still behind Nike (shoes, apparel, and uniforms), and Under Armour (apparel and uniforms). Go to the outlet mall and compare the Adidas Store to the Nike Store. There’s no comparison.

 

Tech will stick to Adidas just as they stuck with Russell for so long. It’s bad decisions like this that keep me from being more of a Tech fan.      

 

I don’t have a problem with Paul Johnson (except I wish he wouldn’t throw the ball so much. Throwing 23% of the time is too much. Should be less than 10%. Run the ball).

 
Weekend: busy Friday. Morning huddle went long, then an hour long 11 am meeting followed by lunch at The Tavern at Medlock. I headed the chicken tenders, which were great.

Left at 2:45 and headed to the ballpark. Made the long walk and lined up in the shade of the Terrapin beer tank. After gates opened I walked around a bit, and greeted my usher friend.  Was walking around the lower level and decided to sit down the third base line. Loved the old uniforms. Anna was at the game but in a section behind the plate that us regular fans couldn’t get to. Drank two cokes but stopped by RaceTrac for a big Vitamin Water and ice cream.

Left early Saturday morning for Athens. Got to Anna’s house shortly before W&MC arrived. Went downtown to lunch at Ted’s Most Best, an Italian kitchen in an old garage across from the 40 Watt Club. Several of us got pizzas. A and MC got sandwiches. Then we walked around the corner to take a tour of the Creature Comforts craft brewery. Went back to A’s house. Will drove MC went to meet a student at Two Story Coffee while I drove C and A to Kroger. While they were shopping I hit RaceTrac for something to drink.

Josh came over and the kids played a board game. I was updating eBay and deleting email. At six we decided to eat together, instead of everyone going their separate ways. Will suggested a tiny Mexican place north of town called Tlaloc. The menus were printed in Spanish, but it wasn’t hard to figure out what to order. I had chicken enchiladas. Didn’t get back to East Cobb until 11 pm.

Tried a new Sunday School class, and it was good. Taught by a staff member. Got home at one and ate leftovers.

Watched some Braves and took a nap. I’d had problems with my phone all weekend, so we went to the Avalon Apple Store. On the way I fixed one of the problems myself, then of course the other problems weren’t an issue when the expert was checking. Since we were out we drove up to Peachtree Parkway and ate at Red Robin. Ceil got the Cobb Salad and I had my birthday burger – with a fried egg on top. Went home and crashed on the couch. Watched a rerun on the Hallmark Channel.

For lunch Monday I had the leftover Fuddruckers burger I had stashed in the office breakroom.

See the eclipse? I was one of the last people in the office to go outside, and was amazed at how many people were out there. I shouldn’t have been. It was getting a little dark and the automatic lights were coming on. I decided to go inside and get my phone to take some pictures of the crowd. When I came back outside it was over. People were going back inside. Guess I missed it.

Last Wednesday the Braves got blown out and everyone’s worried the plan is moving along too slow. They’ve forgotten that there was no expectation to win this year. All the people calling for all the kids to be called up are now complaining that the team is losing. Then the next day the Braves blew out the Rockies.

On September 9 UGA travels to South Bend. The next day the Falcons play in Chicago. On the Friday before Vince Dooley is throwing out the first pitch at Wrigley Field. I’ve entered a couple of contests to go to all three games. 

The Solar Eclipse

Anna and her friends viewed today's total eclipse from outside Athens, though many gathered in Sanford Stadium.

My kind of eclipse:

At least guy didn't heed the warnings.

In his press conference today President Trump said the eclipse would be the “greatest ever.”

Who can forget this famous eclipse reenactment?

NASA engineers announce the moon showed up late to work this morning, jeopardizing eclipse timetable.

 

Just passed by a busload of protesters headed to the Blue Ridge Mountains carrying pre-printed signs saying: “Lunar Eclipses Matter.”

 

Loss of productivity in the US due to the eclipse estimated to be in the trillions of dollars. (I’m responsible for a few million just by myself.)

 

I am staying inside during the eclipse and just turning out the lights for those two minutes.

 

The best eclipse party will of course feature special guest Bonnie Tyler.

 

Experts predict millions will go blind from staring at the sun during the eclipse.

 

Got me a special eclipse suit to protect my entire body from the deadly rays from the sun.

 

Falcons officials hope eclipse will help Mercedes Benz Stadium roof to start working. The view from the floor of the new stadium: 

Going outside Sunday afternoon to make sure eclipse doesn’t happen a day early.

 

The eclipse is a good time to negotiate with primitive societies: “Do what I say or I’ll make the sun go dark.”  

 

Steve Martin: I want to hire the person who does the publicity for the eclipse.

 

FAA grounding all air traffic during eclipse to make sure the sun’s deadly rays don’t catch planes on fire.

 

Just my luck to be at the beach when the moon blocks out the sun. #eclipse

 

Can’t believe I had to pay $100 to view the eclipse on pay per view.

 

In an effort to protect citizens from the sun’s deadly rays, the US military to fly a fleet of C5 transport planes over path of eclipse.

 

Due to high probability of rain, NASA engineers scrub Monday’s planned eclipse, moving it to Tuesday.

 

Due to public outcry, Trump says he’ll change Monday’s deadly solar eclipse to a much safer lunar eclipse.

 

WSB reports the sun is stuck in heavy Atlanta traffic.

 

North Korea announces they will fire missiles at the moon to prevent next week’s eclipse.  

 

Al Gore’s trillion dollar study reveals Global Warming is the result of solar eclipses.

 

Protesters worried police will move in during the two minutes of darkness caused by the eclipse.

 

I used to drive a Mitsubishi Eclipse that would only run when the sun went behind the moon.

 

Next year’s Super Bowl halftime show will feature Katy Perry’s dancing sharks and beach balls re-enacting the eclipse.

 

(Tuesday) Quitting my job, starting a company to make and sell eclipse glasses full time.

 

My protection from the harmful eclipse rays:

The best thing about the remodeled lobby at work is the widescreen TV playing an endless loop of the Shane Stewart Show.

 

Planning on using the remodeled breakroom at work for my Georgia/Florida viewing party this year.

1974 Throwbacks

Friday and Saturday the Braves wore 1974 throwbacks

for Hank Aaron Heritage Weekend.

A few of players wore stirrups (like Ozzie Albies below),

and a few more wore their pants cuffed high.

The look wouldn't have been complete without the unique batting helmets.

Nick Markakis congratulates kurt Suzuki on his home run.

Dansby charged hard to nail the speedy Hamilton.

RA Dickey stuck to his navy t-shirt and belt - and long socks.

Julio Teheran pitched Saturday's game.

 Brandon Phillips remained hot.

Saturday night Albies tagged a runner.

Rosenberg on North Korea & Russia

Joel C Rosenberg on recent developments in North Korea and Russia…

 

While a preemptive North Korean nuclear attack on the U.S. and/or America's Pacific allies sounds like a plot ripped from my 2008 novel, Dead Heat, it may no longer be a fictional scenario.

U.S. intelligence agencies are now convinced that "North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles, crossing a key threshold on the path to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power," reports the Washington Post, based on a confidential analysis by the Defense Intelligence Agency. "The United States calculated last month that up to 60 nuclear weapons are now controlled by North Korean leader Kim Jong In," notes the Post.

This week, Pyongyang threatened to attack the island of Guam with ballistic missiles that could be armed with nuclear weapons. With 160,000 residents and two U.S. military bases, the Pacific island territory now appears to be in Pyongyang's crosshairs. President Trump immediately warned the leaders of North Korea not to dare even consider attacks against the American people or their allies, saying they would experience American "fire and fury like the world has never seen."

"Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely," the President added. "Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path."

We need to pray for peace, and for our leaders to have wisdom to know how best to contain the North Korean threat and ratchet down tensions. We need to pray that countries like China will use their considerable leverage to persuade the North Koreans to back down. As a protective measure, the U.S. needs to be urgently bolstering its naval and air assets in the Pacific theater, as well as its missile defense assets, closely coordinating both defensive and offensive capabilities with allies like South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan, among others.

At the same time, we need to reexamine the disastrous nuclear deals both President Clinton and President Obama made with North Korea. Both men promised the American people that their diplomacy would make us all safer by persuading Pyongyang not to pursue nuclear weapons or the long-range ballistic missiles to deliver them. Both could not have been more wrong. Such serious misjudgments have helped get us to this exceedingly dangerous moment.

In October of 1994, President Bill Clinton cut a deal with North Korea in which Pyongyang agreed to "freeze and gradually dismantle its nuclear weapons development program," reported the New York Times.

"This agreement will help achieve a longstanding and vital American objective -- an end to the threat of nuclear proliferation on the Korean Peninsula," Mr. Clinton told the American people. "This agreement is good for the United States, good for our allies, and good for the safety of the entire world," Mr. Clinton added. "It's a crucial step toward drawing North Korea into the global community."

In return, the Clinton administration gave North Korea $4 billion in energy aid. In addition, the Clinton deal gave North Korea two nuclear power plants, for which American taxpayers helped foot the bill.

“This is a good deal for the United States,” Mr. Clinton said at the time. “North Korea will freeze and then dismantle its nuclear program. South Korea and our other allies will be better protected. The entire world will be safer as we slow the spread of nuclear weapons.” But Mr. Clinton and his senior advisors couldn't have been more wrong.

In February of 2012, President Obama was similarly duped. Mr. Obama agreed to a deal in which Pyongyang promised (again) not to build nuclear weapons and stop testing long-range ballistic missiles. In return, the Obama administration agreed to give North Korea with 240,000 metric tons of food.

Experts warned the Obama team at the time that "it is naïve at best for the administration to herald a North Korean 'commitment to denuclearization' after the many years of North Korean actions definitively proving the contrary."

Less than a month later, Pyongyang tested another long-range rocket in clear violation of the agreement, and a humiliated Mr. Obama had to suspend the food aid program. Clearly, the policy of "strategic patience" (read: "do nothing and hope for the best") run by Mr. Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been a colossal failure.

If all this weren't bad enough, it's made worse by the fact that the insane Obama nuclear deal with Iran was essentially patterned -- and sold -- after the Clinton deal with North Korea. As I warned in this Fox News interview and elsewhere (see here and here), the ayatollahs in Tehran are working closely with Pyongyang on nuclear and missile technology. They're also watching how the U.S. and the world powers handle a nation aspiring to become a nuclear armed power. So far, they're learning the West can be played for fools, and a small but aggressive nation can build a nuclear arsenal without much fear of being stopped.

 

RUSSIA: Though much of the world's attention is understandably riveted right now on North Korea and their chilling nuclear threats against the U.S., tensions with Russia are also spiking and require urgent attention.

Consider just a few key developments that have occurred in recent weeks:

<![if !supportLists]>·        <![endif]>Moscow is gearing up for massive war games later this Fall that could put upwards of 100,000 Russian troops on the borders of the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Each of these countries are NATO members. Each lived for decades under the cruelty of Soviet occupation. Each are increasingly worried Putin may be interested in seizing them and putting them once again under Russian hegemony. It's a concern I share but am concerned not enough leaders in the West do.

<![if !supportLists]>·        <![endif]>If such provocations weren't enough, Vladimir Putin has just expelled 755 American diplomats from Russia, effective September 1st.

<![if !supportLists]>·        <![endif]>Putin has further "ratcheted up military provocations against NATO forces across Eastern Europe" by sending Russian warplanes to make "provocative flybys of NATO ships and aircraft," by deploying "new military hardware to its Kaliningrad exclave, a territory nestled between the Baltic countries and Poland, which are all NATO members" and by conducting "cyber warfare attacks on the electoral processes of multiple NATO countries, including, but not limited to, the U.S., Germany and France," according to a U.S. defense analyst writing in Newsweek,

<![if !supportLists]>·        <![endif]>All this, of course, comes after decisions by Putin to invade and seize Crimea and Eastern Ukraine since 2014.

<![if !supportLists]>·        <![endif]>To reassure our NATO allies that we will stand with them and honor Article V -- NATO's mutual defense pact stating that an attack against one NATO member is considered an attack against all -- President Trump gave a major (and very good) address in Warsaw, Poland, on July 6th, which I would commend to your attention. Poland is a key NATO partner and one of America's closest allies in Eastern Europe.

<![if !supportLists]>·        <![endif]>On July 31st, Vice President Pence visited Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, where he addressed NATO forces and met with leaders from all three Baltic States. This was also an excellent speech which I would encourage you to listen to or read. (here is audio and the text of the speech)

<![if !supportLists]>·        <![endif]>Then, Vice President Pence visited Georgia, which was invaded and partially occupied by Russia in 2008, and Montenegro, NATO's newest member, where he rightly denounced Russian "aggression" and "occupation."

<![if !supportLists]>·        <![endif]>What's more, Congress has overwhelmingly passed -- and President Trump has just signed -- new economic sanctions on Russia to respond to Moscow's efforts to interfere with American elections in 2016. The Senate vote was 98 to 2 in favor of the sanctions. The House passed the measure 419 to 3.

<![if !supportLists]>·        <![endif]>At the same time, as I recently wrote about from Berlin, President Trump is wisely continuing to press every NATO member to keep its commitment to invest at least 2% of its annual GDP on defense. Currently, only five countries are keeping that critical pledge -- the U.S., Greece, Estonia, the U.K., and Poland. That said, Romania has just announced it will be the 6th country to hit the 2% mark. What’s more, Latvia and Lithuania have just announced they are dramatically increasing their defense spending and will both hit the 2% target by 2018. Other countries are beginning to step up, as well.

We need to be praying for U.S. and NATO leaders to have the wisdom and courage to bolster their forces in the Baltics and dramatically increase their deterrence against Moscow throughout Eastern Europe. We don't want to see a scenario in which an emboldened Czar Putin feels tempted to invade anyone else.